Yesterday it was time to break camp and move on, Our pitch at this campsite was great, it was close to the pool and restaurant and had a beautiful view. It's just one thing when you want to relax, and we both agree on this, do NOT park close to the pool. When kids have fun they scream................. A LOT

 Driving south we had to go through Slovenia for a few miles before we hit Croatia. 

Since we're still in the EU there's no custom checkpoint, but the old stuff is still here so you know you entered a new country.

On the first of January 2023, Croatia became the 20th country to join the eurozone. The kuna, the local currency, has been replaced by the euro.

With a single currency, the country hopes to make its economy stronger and more stable and to improve the standard of living of its inhabitants.

We wanted to get to this town Pula to find a parking spot near the centrum which from experience we know fills up quickly so the early bird .............

This is the sign on every single P-space marked on Mom's RVapp  

There are things Mom absolutely wants to see in this town so the only option is a camping 3km outside centrum

Driving through the outskirts there's a lot left from the communist era.

We found the campsite and set up everything before we went for a walk admiring the blue-green water of the Adriatic sea.

There are a lot of activities here, and we headed directly to see if anything would suit us and waterskiing? surfing? nope but kayaking maybe?   

We headed to the bar to think about it

It's lunch time so Mom ordered a ???? yeah you know it

A caprese for lunch 

There was absolutely nothing on that plate for me, so I went to the kitchen to see if there would be something better for me. Mom got really worried, but my cuteness and charm win every time, everybody welcomed me with many smiles and cuddles.................that's all good, but where are the treats

Mom decided to spend the afternoon at home and we'll go to town in the early morning. We have fast free WIFi so Mom wanted to catch up on some stuff.

She even fixed some home-cooking and yes this time I got a nice taste 

This morning it was overcast and Mom thought that's good because it stays cooler to pedal into the city. After a lot of procrastination by Mom, we weren't ready until around 10  and by then I heard thunder and a little later the sky opened up.

This is our neighbor's truck, they are rinsing their laundry 

Boy are we glad we're still sitting nice and dry inside Lucy.

According to weather rapport, this will be over at 3 and we can take the bus in then, just in case it starts raining again.

Meanwhile it's a great time for napping

Henry

What a day I had all morning running on this trail loose even if no dogs are allowed to. Mom breaks that rule when no one is around knowing I'll listen when she needs me to come.

It was a challenge in places so I had to stop often and wait for Mom. Sometimes she stops to look at the gorgeous view and take pictures. I want to look too and because I'm shorter I jump up on a rock and Mom gets panicky, I can tell by her voice. Just because she is afraid of heights and is too clumsy to jump up on rocks, doesn't mean I can't. 

I'm as agile as a mountain goat I tell her

OK, I'll get down I don't like hearing that voice 

Our goal was to reach the Duino Castle which is the private residence of the Princes della Torre e Tasso ............No we were not invited,................................. the Castle of Duino has been open to the public since 2003

we were early the castle wasn't open yet, so we found a nice little cafe where we relaxed for a while

This time Mom said no to the guided tour, not only because no dogs were allowed inside, Mom wasn't in the mood for it either, but we really wanted to see the garden

        Castello di Duino is a marvelous fortification from the 14th-century privately-owned castle that is best known for its literary and musical guests, such as Mark Twain, Liszt, Strauss, and particularly the poet Rilke.

There was noone around, so we cheated a little and ran inside just for a minute. Mom needed to use the facilities.

This staircase and floor looked  amazing

Of course, we had to see the dungeon too, and Mom didn't want to go down there but I insisted I felt some really cool air from there

The Bunker of Duino Castle has an area of 400 square meters and is 18 meters deep. It was constructed in 1943 by the forced-labor organization TODT for the German navy to defend the base at Sistiana against a possible Allied attack. Venezia-Giulia was part of the Adriaten Kustenland .. In 1944 the bast Sistiana was used by the Kleinkampfmittle flotilla 441 with midget Submarines: MOLCH (newt). Many people of Duino, before the Bunker was armored and housed a cannon, fled inside when there was an air-raid warning. From 1945 to 1954 the British used the Bunker as a fuel store.

Mom did NOT like this ? she said we're 18 meters underground alone and only one way out, besides a lot of bad stuff has happened here. I couldn't disagree.

After this, we had to visit the old castle which is in ruins 

The Lords of Duino, vassals of the Patriarch of Aquelia were first mentioned in about 1150. From their ancestral seat, located on a rock high above the Adriatic Sea, they controlled the trade routes running from the city of Monfalcone along the coast to the Istrian peninsula

Prince Raymond standing on these ruins looking at his Castle occupied by the Allied military government (June 1949)

I bet he wanted his castle back

The views are amazing

Not too many people seem to come here it was quite overgrown

Mom spotted something in the water below and zoomed in for a picture. That jellyfish looks huge like it sweeps you into it and sucks your blood or something, no swimming I say........the water looks very inviting says Mom they don't move fast, you can move around them

Many seagulls are enjoying the cliff

Looking at getting back to our camp without walking the same way we found a bus, so we just hopped on and since Mom couldn't figure out how to pay and the chauffeur couldn't be bothered we got a free ride back.

There was a sign about muzzles for dogs on the door here too but no one said anything this time.

Every country has different rules and some don't make sense to us, like for instance Mom wasn't allowed into the pool without a bathing cap? For hygienic reasons, hmm a lady told me men aren't allowed to wear baggy swim trunks either they have to wear speedos, and trust me not ALL men look good in them. Mom thinks it's hilarious that for a change MEN are told what to wear.

Back at Lucy Mom made lunch..........

And it looks like it'll be the same for supper

Life is great 

Wet kisses Henry

after checking the weather map Mom said we'll be driving west, and we only have to get over those mountains 

And look that map was correct

so we are in Italy now?  things sure changes quickly around here

We are just passed the city of Trieste, a deep-water port, that is a maritime gateway for northern Italy, Germany, Austria, and Central Europe. It is considered the end point of the maritime Silk Road with its connections to the Suez Canal and Turkey. Since the 1960s, Trieste has emerged as a prominent research location in Europe because of its many international organizations and institutions. The city lies at the intersection of Latin, Slavic, and Germanic cultures where Central Europe meets the Mediterranean Sea, and is home to diverse ethnic groups and religious communities.

Trieste has the highest percentage of researchers in Europe in relation to population.^["Città della Barcolana", "Città della bora", "Città del vento", "Vienna by the sea" and "City of coffee" are also idioms used to describe Trieste.

This is now our setup and view

This campsite is a luxury for us and  I got a nice bag of goodies to welcome me..............and no muzzle is needed anywhere here.

They also had Mom's favorite beer in the store, ( I guess we're staying three days?)

The restaurant next door served the best mussels ever.............according to Mom, I didn't get a taste 

Mom said they were way too spicy for me. 

With that a local beer that was just ok

Since Mom claims she's the expert tiramisu maker she had to try this chef's version

And we both agreed it was yummy, not as good as Mom s though ( I HAD to say that, I'm not stupid)

The sun is just peeking over the mountain so we are off for a long morning walk before it get too hot for me.

Life is peachy 

wet kisses to yall

Henry

Good Morning, It has been a very rough night for me, the bright flashes and thundering are very scary. it did feel a little better after crawling under Mom's cover but not great. Mom had forgotten to close the skylight window, so she spent all morning drying the wet mattress. Glad she had the fan

Yesterday we went to Ljubljana, the capital and largest city of Slovenia It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political, and administrative center.

The city's symbol is the dragon, It is depicted on the top of the tower of the castle, in the Ljubljana coat of arms, and on the Dragon Bridge. It represents power, courage, and greatness.

The 1901 Dragon Bridge, decorated with dragon statues on pedestals at four corners of the bridge has become a symbol of the city and is regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of a bridge made in Vienna Secession style.It has a span of 33.34 m (109 ft 5 in)and its arch was at the time the third largest in Europe. It is protected as a technical monument.

Can you believe I had to wear one of these to visit the castle? It took us a long time to find a store that sold them 

(Mom said they should sell them right at the entrance to the castle since they have this silly rule)

All the people around us were feeling very sorry for me and wanted to comfort me, which I didn't mind at all. Mom took it off as soon as we got passed the guard

It was raining off and on so the city wasn't very crowded, we did take the boat ride which wasn't all that exciting, but we were the only ones on our boat (seemed waistful to drive the boat with only us on it?)so I had the run of the place

Butchers' Bridge love locks
Decorated with mythological bronze sculptures, created by Jakov Brdar, from Ancient Greek mythology and Biblical stories, the Butchers' Bridge connects the Ljubljana Open Market area and the restaurants-filled Petkovšek Embankment  It is also known as the love padlocks-decorated bridge in Ljubljana.

This bridge is glass, and I don't think Mom would have walked over it if it was a clear day

. It is a transparent glass-made bridge, illuminated at night by in-built LEDs

Many buildings are ornate and colorful

These race cars were displayed and Mom kept asking if it was a special event  Turned out it was a race from Serbia to Italy? and that's on the regular roads we're all traveling on. I can't even imagine it being legal? 

There have been several times driving on the highway with Lucy always in the left lane driving a comfortable 60-70 miles/hour

keeping an eye in the rearview mirror, there's a car no bigger than a dot, Within seconds it's right next to you, and they're speeding so the wind is shaking Lucy. Many times it's more than one car chasing each other.

Mom shudders think about an accident in that speed

Lunch was only ok, Mom thought this sausage was way too fatty, I liked t a lot though

These purses are work of art and I suppose you'll always know what time it is

Here's another work of art, a Bicycle made of wood

This is questionable art, which we saw a lot of here..................

At the dog store, Mom bought some really great treats for me ( guilt about the muzzle) and I shared them with these cute sparrows that weren't afraid of me at all?

the rain made us less interested in walking around outside

Inside had some interesting stuff, like this wire dragon

and this lightweight canon

after a full day in the city, we rested by this gorgeous fountain that spits water when you touch his paw

It's 8 am and Mom has been looking at the weather map where the sun is, and that's where we are going.

It does look like the sun will visit here too but it's only a 50/50 chance...........we want 100% sunshine.............so off we go

Sloppy wet kisses fro me to you 

Henry

 Ever since we left that castle it has been raining so we have been driving west hoping the weather will get better 

We skipped Bratislava because Mom wasn't in the mood for a big city and I'm glad

Leaving Slovakia going through Hungary driving mostly on highways, (why not ? We paid the toll;-)) Mom has already been to Budapest which is a busy city so she looked for something more relaxing and found Lake Balaton which is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. To us, it was a lake?

We were parked close to the lake. There weren't many people but it's because the tourist season hasn't started yet and due to lousy weather. Some of the restaurants were open so Mom had an authentic Hungarian Lango with so much garlic Mom's breath would kill an elephant. It was delicious and very filling

In the morning Mom decided we have seen what we want to see in Hungary and continued to Slovenia again mostly on highways and it looked like this most of the way

Mom hates driving in it but continued on

At one time we were passed by these Hells Angels guys from Italy and later at a truckstop, we saw a group with a different name on their vests. Hope they aren't going where we are going.

Again we got pretty close to a stork nest and Mom are quite fascinated with these beautiful birds

There are many castles next to the road but Mom is not climbing up another one, (That's what she says now because she's still sore)

This is an interesting sign we have never seen before. It's at a truck stop that has a special place with stairs so the truckers can sweep the snow off their loads. I know I don't want to be here in the winter

Getting closer to the lake we stopped at yet another castle named Sümeg Castle. The fortress features historical exhibits, knights on horseback & medieval feasts  

Getting closer to Ljubljana which is the Slovenia capital we hit traffic and lots and lots of it. 

According to Alice (she's the lady in the box that tells Mom where to go) we should have arrived an hour and a half earlier. 

When we finally arrived at the parking space Alice directed us to, we met a young couple that was leaving because they had read on an app this place isn't safe. Well, it was a big parking lot next to a train station and a bus terminal nearby. It also had electricity and toilets all free, but Mom also got a bad gut feeling so we found another place that we had to pay for but better safe than sorry.

Campers are parked very close to each other here and our neighbor has a Schnauser. I have never met a nice Schnauser so I barked to let him know I was here first, 

Not acceptable said Mom, and ok I'll keep quiet as long as he knows his place.

Mom says not all Schnauzers are bad she did know a nice one but he's in dog rainbow land with Buttons now.

Well, maybe so but the ones I know aren't good

It s now 9 am and we're hoping the rain will stop so we can explore the city and stay dry.

Ljubljana is the capital of independent Slovenia, which joined the European Union in 2004

Slovenian history from Google

Socialist period

Josip Broz Tito and Emperor Haile Selassie in Ljubljana in 1959
During the re-establishment of Yugoslavia in World War II, the first Slovenian republic, Federal Slovenia, was created and it became part of Federal Yugoslavia. It was a socialist state, but because of the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, economic and personal freedoms were much broader than in the Eastern Bloc countries. 

The late 1950s saw a policy of liberalization in the cultural sphere as well, and the unlimited border crossing into Western countries was allowed, both for Yugoslav citizens and for foreigners. In 1956, Josip Broz Tito, together with other leaders, founded the Non-Aligned Movement. Particularly in the 1950s, Slovenia's economy developed rapidly and was strongly industrialized. With further economic decentralization of Yugoslavia in 1965–66, Slovenia's domestic product was 2.5 times the average of Yugoslav republics. While being a Communist country, after the Tito–Stalin split Yugoslavia initiated a period of military neutrality and non-alignment. 

 it stopped raining now so we'll head into the city of Ljubljana

wet kisses you all , and Happy Sweden national day

Henry

We're still in Slovakia and I started to write this last night because we were parked in a really dull place at a truck stop. Nothing to do here other than watch cars go by, ad since it's Saturday there aren't many trucks on the road either

We're safe here no worries

Mom says the history of the countries around here is very interesting and complicated, at least it is for her.......we Googled and we choose some facts to share.

Slovakia is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the southwest, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometers (19,000 sq mi), with a population of over 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice

Mom did plan to visit Bratislava but she changed her mind after the Castle visit she did today, she came back pooped out after that tour..

more about that later I got a few more things about Slovakia

After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the state of Czechoslovakia was established. It was the only country in central and eastern Europe to remain a democracy during the interwar period. Nevertheless, local fascist parties gradually came to power in the Slovak lands, and the first Slovak Republic existed during World War II as a partially-recognized client state of Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Czechoslovakia was re-established as an independent country. After a coup in 1948, Czechoslovakia came under communist administration and became a part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc

Are you with me so far?

Attempts to liberalize communism in Czechoslovakia culminated in the Prague Spring, which was crushed by the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution peacefully ended the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia, sometimes known as the Velvet Divorce.

Slovakia is also home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The world's largest per-capita car producer, Slovakia manufactured a total of 1.1 million cars in 2019, representing 43% of its total industrial output

 Slovakia became a member of NATO on 29 March 2004 and of the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2009, Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency.In 2019, Zuzana Čaputová became Slovakia's first female president.

So this morning we left the camp with clean clothes and a cleaned up Lucy on our way to Bratislava, but first, we're going to see a castle the Bojnice castle

The idea of setting up a museum in the Bojnice Castle came from its last noble owner, Count Ján Pálffy. In his will dated November 14, 1907, he expressed his wish that the castle be made available to the public and that the works of art remain in their original places for visitors to see. The Bojnice Museum is a specialized art-historical museum with nationwide scope. Bojnice Castle is one of the oldest and most important monuments in Slovakia.

So of course this was one of those no-dogs places, I don't get it they used to have horses in there and what can my soft pads do that's worse than a horses hof? 

Mom bought the tour that was starting an hour later, so we went for a walk, and look at this tree!!!!!

just clusters of flowers

 The tour of the castle shows the original furniture, various artifacts, and paintings like the late Gothic collection Bojnice altar by a master of Florence from the 14th century. The tour also includes a visit to a stalactite cave under the castle connected with the 26-meter-deep castle well.

The guide was a sweet girl but only spoke Slovak, English, or German speaking guest got a pamphlet to read about the rooms

Bojnice Castle is a medieval castle in Bojnice, Slovakia. It is a Romanesque castle with some original Gothic and Renaissance elements built in the 12th century.

Unfortunately, someone thought it was a good idea to add Disney figures  to a 13-century castle and say Disney got the inspiration from this castle ............hmm

Several very ornate tile heaters

This tour was going at a very fast speed and there wasn't much time to read the pamphlet look around and take picture

gold gilded bed 

The golden room is the most famous one in the castle Its ceiling is cut from pinewood and decorated with gold leaf There are 183 angels looking down from the ceiling each one with a different expression. This was a room Mom would have wanted to stay a little longer 

Lots of beautiful paintings and chandeliers, especially this one. 

The numbers are there to mark places where they had found an older painting underneath.........

 This floor is made from yellow and black marble in the form of fish scales

 Thi painting

The large room is divided into two with a wall with heavy carvings of six animals representing the six deadly sins; gluttony, arrogance, greed, envy, anger, and laziness, and the bed symbolizes the last sin, called lust.

The legend said one owner had the castle built for a French countess with whom he fell in love. She got tired of waiting and married someone else and as an expression of his grief, he crowned the tower with a thorn crown.

There's a well and a cave 26 meters below the fourth courtyard where finds from the stone age were discovered

Many steps later the almost 2-hour tour was over puuh/

There were no elevators so now I understand why Mom was so beat by the time she came back. The parking lot we were sent to wasn't around the corner either

Right now we are in Hungary but Mom thought we were in Slovenia so she bought a toll vignette for Lucy haha Hope the money goes to filling a few potholes.

We are camping by Hungary's biggest lake named Lake Balaton:  It is a freshwater lake and is the largest in Central Europe and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake,

It's getting late Mom is tired time to go to bed. It looks like a rainstorm is on its way because all of a sudden all the birds got quiet.

great sleeping weather 

Wet Kisses

Henry

As nice as it was at this camp we had to move on to find a washing machine so we left this place that was named ?

We are now driving west admiring the gorgeous snowcapped mountains 

A caravan of these green trucks was heading somewhere and we were hoping they will be safe knowing we aren't all that far from the Ukrainian border.

We finally found a place where Mom could do her laundry, they had a washing machine, but no dryer so even if this isn't a very pretty sight, it has to do, and Mom loves the way her clothes smell hanging outside

The name of the place is Camping Trusalova and is located a bit away from the main roads but it's so beautiful the extra miles were worth it. We stayed here 2 nights just relaxing parked next to this gorgeous waterfall.

It's still low season for tourism here so it's not crowded at all, still the second night someone decided to park between Lucy and the waterfall?

There's a small restaurant here and Mom thinking it must be a "Mom home-cooking" type of place decided she MUST have a goulash supper before leaving. It was good but nothing spectacularr

No English is spoken and very little German so it's not all that easy for Mom 

I on the other hand have no problem communicating when this pretty girl came to visit.

I sniffed her, she sniffed me

and then we were friends

Her Mom called so I followed her over the bridge, but then MY Mom called and the obedient dog I am I had to leave her.

But now I knew where she lived so I talked Mom into going to get a beer so I could see her again.

and we did, 

Unfortunately, my girl had already left, and only a hissing cat was there 

The beer was still good though

It's now 6 am and it's going to be another sunny day 

I don't know how far we are driving today but I'm sure it'll be great 

Good Morning everyone 

We are not in Poprad like Mom planned instead we are at a village about a half-hour outside of Poprad, and that's because Mom found this campsite that on their website claimed they had a washing machine. It turned out they didn't but we stayed anyway, because who can resist this kind of view outside your window?

Last night we spent in Zakopane which is a big tourist place and is visited by over 2,500,000 tourists a year. In the winter, Zakopane's tourists are interested in winter sports activities such as skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, snowshoe walks, and Ice skating. During the summer, Tourists come to do activities like hiking, climbing, bike, and horse riding on the Tatras mountain, there are many trails in the Tatras. Tourists ride quads and dirt bikes that you can rent. 

Popular tourist activity is taking a stroll through the town's most popular street: Krupówki. It is lined with stores, restaurants, carnival rides, and performers. I did NOT like that stroll, too many people and teenagers were making a lot of noise with firecrackers that frighten me horribly. I didn't matter how much Momm tried to comfort me, I do not like that noise.

I did meet a very pretty girl though if the circumstances were different we could have had  a lot of fun together

This thing didn't react at all to my friendly hello..............so bye bye

The entire street was covered with souvenir junk and awesome restaurants. My nose told me this is the place to eat, so we did. The Porkchop was delicious and Mom liked it too. The potato not so much, not even after scooping away all the goo on top

This dude is making money by standing still?  I was more interested in seeing how the light pole is crooked and may fall over him 

Places like this let out a heavenly scent

I peeked in trying to drag Mom along, but she couldn't eat a second meal she said ??

But I can I said

Their beer wasn't that great though                     

There are so many gorgeous restaurants it was hard to choose 

So many different settings so it's hard to choose, but Mom says we should go to the place with most people because that means they have the best food...........

 In  2006 Zakopane and the Polish Olympic Committee put in a bid to host the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was one of six candidates but failed to be short-listed. Turin Italy won

After we ate Mom started to feel sorry for me being so scared so we walked back to Lucy for a quiet night, and I appreciated that.

Regional alcohol? does that mean moonshine?

In the morning we continued south and we left Poland and are now in Slovakia and we're back to using Euro which Mom had very little of so we had to find an ATM because very few places take cards here.

So after setting up Lucy Mom decided on an "easy" walk 4km into town..............it wasn't easy at all for either one of us

It LOOKS easy, but let me tell you it was uphill ALL the way and there was a lot of huffing from Mom.

We made it and were rewarded not only with an ATM but also the cutest local restaurant with traditional food, And they had good beer.

The temperature changes a lot here during the day it's around 65 but at night it creeps down below 50 

It's good for sleeping. 

Anyway the views are amazing and we both enjoy this clean mountain air 

Today Mom is making it a priority to find a laundry mat or she has to buy new clothes
Wet kisses to yaall

Henry